Coincidence, is it?
by MarauderWitch
Summary: What if Remus Lupin never thought of visiting the Grimmauld Place after abandoning his pregnant wife? What if he never managed to find Harry and consequently was never told what he needed to hear in order to come back to her and their unborn child? What if he chose to isolate himself after the war? My try at the AU in which Remus's attempts to leave Dora are successful. Three-shot.
1. Hogwarts

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** Wotcher! I just got this idea stuck in my mind a good while ago and now I finally posted this. Although it can be read alone, I recommend you all to read the chapters 20 and 30 from my other fic, Bubble-gum Pink Moon, before reading this.  
Please, leave your thoughts down there, I really do appreciate them all. :)

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**CHAPTER 1: Hogwarts**

The whole day had been tiring; being a member of the Order of the Phoenix could be nearly as exhaustive after the war than during it. It was the first anniversary of the end of the Second Wizarding War and she was requested to go to numerous celebrations. The Hog's Head, the Three Broomsticks, the Leaky Cauldron, Florish and Blotts. Yes, it seemed that every magical shop was holding a special festivity and oh, she could not deny them the pleasure of having her as one of the many 'celebrities'. Everything seemed that it would work just fine when she was giving an interview and her son was entertaining himself with some children books in the corner under her watch, but it certainly was not helpful when he would cry in her arms because he just wanted to go home and kip.

Tonks would excuse herself for a minute, just sitting on a bench outside with him in her arms and hoping that he would ignore the various stalls and peddlers and be able to sleep for at least a good half an hour before another shot of the loudest Dr. Filibuster's Fabulous Fireworks would strike. She knew she had put him through too much already and she really wished things were different, that she had someone else to share the weariness with. Despite not having slept a couple of nights ago and both of them had spent hours outside their home whilst she worked the day before, they were both extremely tired, but she would run her fingers through his bright orange hair ― result of playing with Uncle Charlie for over an hour ― and sing a lullaby to him until he drifted to the land of dreams.

"Hello, Tonks, dear!" Molly had come out of the Wiseacre's Wizarding Equipment to sit beside her, one of the Weasleys would eventually come to her, customarily either Molly or Ginny, still, Charlie had shown up once.

"Hey, Molly."

Tonks smiled.

"Everything all right?" asked the Weasley.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she answered with a reassuring nod. Fine ... Interesting choice of words, she knew no one would see anything wrong with it, but _he_ would have seen right through her, he would have known something was wrong. However, if he was indeed here, would there be anything wrong at all? "Just needed a break, y'know. He's been a bit tired, been out all day. As soon as he's up, I'll be back inside."

Molly gazed at the little boy for a minute, a fond smile spreading across her features and Tonks mirrored her actions.

"He's grown fast, hasn't he?"

"Yeah ..." Tonks nodded. "Really fast ..."

"He's a lot like you."

Molly reached for his left foot, pending from her arms.

It was a lie and Tonks knew. Teddy did resemble a lot like one of his parents, but it was definitely not her. Though, none of them seemed to be able to voice it, probably afraid to hurt her feelings, little did they know that the lie hurt her more than the truth ever would.

"Thanks, Molly," she nodded; putting up a smile that did not really reach her eyes. She could not bring herself to say a thing; she knew she was not the only one going through hell on that day, the bag under the Weasley's eyes showed her that Molly wanted to simply go home and properly grief the anniversary of her son's death.

Eventually, she would be left alone with her son again and too soon, he would wake up, but she cannot blame him. After all, who would be able to sleep under such thunderous commemoration? She would take a few more minutes for herself before going inside, trying to send away all ghosts from the past and putting a brave smile upon her face. The small escapades to sooth or feed him were essential, crucial even, for her to go through the day, unfortunately, she could only use her son as an excuse so many times. She was thankful for his energy and the fact that one-year-olds were so easily distracted; he could be entertained by every little thing and only his laugh would bring a genuine smile to her lips, blocking everything else she was feeling more effectively than a Patronus Charm.

Her last appointment finally came and she headed with the survivors from the Order to the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. A sting would cross her heart when she would remember that it was after another battle in that very school that he had finally accepted her feelings for him and they had had the most perfect night a couple could ever have had. Yet, she would manage to not let out any of it; she certainly did not wish to be shot with pitiful looks from every single soul when they thought she was not seeing.

It would all begin with a speech from the Minister of Magic.

"Ladies and gentlemen, fellow colleagues," with his voice's volume magically increased to reach the remotest corners of the school's grounds, Minister Shacklebolt would smile, nodding towards them, lined behind him as though they were his personal squad.

She hated this kind of attention; she really just wanted to be left alone. Her younger self would have certainly loved it, proudly standing behind her old colleague as if proving to them all she was right all along, that she had chosen the right side to fight for. However, now she could only feel extremely exposed, almost naked to be seen by a bunch of people she barely knew. And that little boy, it was not his fault, he had not fought, he did not deserve to be under such strong spotlight, nevertheless he had no choice but to stay with her, holding her leg as she kept her hand upon the back of his head and hoped it to end as soon as possible; if she was tired, he undoubtedly was too.

"We are gathered here today to celebrate the first year of true peace in our Wizarding Community since a wizard decided to challenge death, not a care at who would be hurt in the process," he paused to let his words hang in the air for a moment. Tonks always admired the way he could impress a crowd with his words, she knew she would never be able to be such a strong leader as Kingsley, but that did not bother her, she used to be more than happy in being a fighter. "One who called himself Lord Voldemort and despite all was still able to get followers to unite him, naming them the Death Eaters. Together, they had the purpose of, as they used to say, purify our community and take away the half-bloods and Muggleborns. However, they were defeated exactly one year ago, by the boy who lived, Harry Potter!"

Harry stepped forward clearly nervous and bowed as the heavy sound of claps echoed around the school grounds.

"Aided by the members of the Order of the Phoenix!" Another plaudit echoed and Tonks smiled, waving as her colleagues did the same.

Kingsley continued his speech for what seemed like a very long time, an hour at least. Standing there, Tonks was beginning to get sick of hearing what every single wizard in Great Britain knew so well, she wished he would just cut it all, allowing them to blend in the crowd as the feast began and hopefully, take care of her own business.

"The previous year was one in which we prospered and grew in great proportions, our bond with the Muggles is now much stronger and respect thrives ..."

For another long half an hour, Shacklebolt talked about how different the world was now that the Dark Lord was no longer among them. It was not until he announced the inauguration of the new monument playing tributes to the casualties of the war that her attention was back on him. A panel beside the castle was uncovered and a beautiful marble piece was revealed, names and photos of all the ones who had lost their lives for what was right were there.

Dora clenched her teeth at the sight of her father smiling at her, she would not cry, he would not want her to and neither would want ... Sirius. There he was, laughing like there was nothing better in the world; as painful as it was, she could almost hear the bark-like sound of it. She looked down at the little boy sitting on the grass and playing with a leaf, utterly oblivious of the names of his relatives not far from him. She would not cry, she could concentrate at the happiness of the boy before her and not allow the sorrow to take over.

The crowd began to move towards the memorial and Kingsley announced that the feast was finally served. She looked around, as if deciding what she would rather do. A tall man had approached Kingsley and she could see the Minister smiling as he talked to him, the Weasleys were walking to the stone to grief over Fred and she was left alone, she knew she had other friends around, but she could not find it within her to be cheerful with anyone. _Better this way_, she thought as she realised she had no desire whatsoever to stay nor to eat, she would go home and dinner whatever she had ready, spaghetti she reckoned, from two or three days ago, would certainly be perfect. She would feed her son as well and call it a day, she knew he would not object at the perspective of going to bed earlier. It was when she caught a flash of orange crossing her eyes. Her boy had begun to walk as fast as his little, fat baby legs allowed him to whilst she was lost in her thoughts. Luckily, having learnt to walk not many days ago, he could not go too fast.

"Kings!" she yelled, pointing at the boy near him and ignoring the odd looks she received for calling Minister Shacklebolt by a nickname. He moved to stop the baby, but it was not necessary, the boy stopped himself when he reached Kingsley's colleague, grabbing his leg just like he had done with hers during the Minister's speech. The stranger looked down at the little boy and began to turn around towards her.

"I'm sorry, he jus ―" She had approached them, but before she could get to her son she saw a pair of amber eyes, ones she, for a moment, wished she could have said that she had not put her own eyes upon for over a year and a half, but it would have been a lie for she had indeed seen those amber orbs every single day since her son had been born, Remus Lupin's. She began to smile, an immeasurable happiness began to fill her, but she was suddenly reminded to cut it off and put away that smile whilst she still could. "... Oh," was all she managed to let out.

The sudden grip on his leg had startled Remus, he looked down to see a young boy with such a bright orange hair that gave away that he was most definitely a Weasley. He heard a voice far away, one he could never forget, not even if he wanted to. Although he knew there was a chance he would meet her here, he still had hoped all the way that he would not. Gradually, without making any conscious decision to do so, he lifted his gaze to meet hers and his heart was nearly popping out of his chest. She had a blonde, short hair and dark blue eyes still holding a twinkle that gleamed brighter than the pendant of her necklace, features not frequently worn by her, the ones he had come to know as her true self. She had a violet shirt on, a baby blue shoulder bag; from the waist up very few would have recognised her, but he would never fail to; however, from the waist down, wearing worn jeans and her signature army boots, she was easily recognisable. She was even more stunning than in his dreams and she was a _mother_. Slowly, his brain began to put two and two together, she had been running after that baby, who appeared to be around the same age his offspring would be by now ...

He held her gaze for a long moment, both too caught up in each other to perceive the Minister of Magic rotating in the spot he was, having forgotten for a moment that one could not disapparate at Hogwarts and rapidly blended in the crowd behind him.

"Is he ...?" Remus's hand stopped half-way on motioning to caress the boy's head. He did not deserve any joyfulness that would come from either of them, he was not worth it.

Dora had been nearly panting, her heart beating incredibly fast, after so long she definitely did not expect to see him, in a future, yes, but certainly not now. So many things were running through her mind and she took a moment to realise he had asked a question or half of it. She nodded, after searching for her voice and finding nothing.

Remus looked down at him again and it was as though he was looking at a photo from the past, a photo of himself. The boy's hair had turned to a light shade of brown he was more than used to seeing at the mirror and his eyes had that amber tint he had been complimented for so many times by the woman before him. _He's a metamorphmagus ..._ Every single day since he left his wife, he had pictured a little girl being born from their union, but he had to admit it was mostly due the fact that he could not stand having a child that would have inherited a single gene from him, he wanted ― he needed the child to be all hers, explosive temperament, clumsiness, stubbornness, whatever it took. But he had a boy ... a little boy, a little boy that at that moment was a nearly perfect copy of his younger self. No, that boy was not his, neither of them belonged in each other's world.

For a long while they stood before each other in silence, Remus still too scared to allow himself to touch the boy and after so long of wishing she could see her husband with her son, Tonks could not bring herself to pull the boy from him; both too afraid to meet each other's eyes once again. Until the moment the baby let go off his father's leg, crouching to get a small stone he spotted on the ground and his mother was once again grateful for the way he is so easily distracted. She cleared her throat, finally getting up some courage to speak.

"How are you?"

"I'm fine," he answered, daring to look away from the boy at last.

Fine ... There it was again. He was fine, but not all right.

"Yourself?" he questioned, twisting his hands somewhat nervously behind his back.

"Fine ... too ..." she did not even try to smile, she knew he would have realised right away that it was not a true one.

"Good ..."

"Yeah ..."

"Um doo geezah!" the boy exclaimed, standing and holding to his mother a lifeless petal of some flower that had passed by long ago.

"Um, for me?" Tonks bent down near him, opening her palm to receive the dead petal.

Teddy let it fall upon his mother's hand and stared at it for a moment with a grin.

"Thank you, love."

She smiled, kissing his cheek.

Remus swallowed hard. The way she had just said that last word made him recall instantly how she used to call him by that pet name, how they used to call each other by that pet name and she held the same amount of love in it as she spoke with that boy that she used to hold when she directed it to him. He looked around, as if he could find something that would allow him to just disappear, he felt like a intruder before those two; the bond they shared was clear to whoever saw them and he had absolutely no place among them.

Tonks drew her wand, touching the petal in her hand with it and making it change colours. The baby laughed and she could not help but to smile wider, he grabbed her palm with his two little hands to watch closer before getting it back from his mother. Teddy's eyes caught a Red Cap that was crossing the school's ground then, he took a step towards the creature, but his mother stopped him. After so much blood spilled there, a large colony of Red Caps had established themselves at Hogwarts. Sure they were easily repelled by some of the simpler jinx and hexes, but during this first year after the battle, rid the school of Red Caps was not amongst the wizard's biggest priorities.

Another long moment passed with a heavy silence between them, none doing nothing but simply watching the boy take off some leaves from the greenery beneath him.

"Feel like eating?" she asked eventually, tilting her head towards the huge table filled with Hogwarts's finest food.

"Not exactly," he answered despite still feeling the effect of the last full moon on his body and hoping he would finally have an excuse to let her go without being rude.

"Me neither," she replied, promptly, much to his dismay. "Wanna go for a walk?"

"I ..."

Remus was spared of finding a reason to not go with her by the boy before him, who began to fidgety stand on his tiptoes before her, moaning and starting to cry as he raised his fat little arms for her to get him.

"Hey, what's wrong?" she asked before lifting him up. The minute he was in her arms, he began to pull her shirt, struggling to get it out, but making nearly no progress. "Oh, my ― Teddy," she tried to call his attention having understood what he wanted. It was almost five, which meant there were about fours that he did not eat a thing, she knew he must have been starving. The easy distraction had to have a bad side after all. "Teddy! Teddy, look at me," she lifted up his chin until he had no choice but to look at her. "Wait," she said clearly, he did nothing more but kept looking anxious at her and holding her shirt. "I should really ..." she trailed off looking at Remus, "you know, feed him."

"Don't let me stop you," he assured her with a curt nod and a small step back.

"Oh, please, Remus. S'not like you've never seen them," she mocked, looking down to her breasts and back to him. However, her mind had been caught up at the name she did not use for nineteen months, well, not addressing directly at him, at least.

For a moment he felt as though he had lost his voice, not a decent word filled his mind to be said to her and he stood there, open-mouthed, staring at her feeling embarrassed by what she had just said.

"Come on, Remus," pleaded Dora, savouring his name in her tongue after so long. "He's really hungry ..."

He blinked, keeping his eyes closed for a second longer than necessary before running his hand upon his face and taking a step towards her, nodding with a small smile. She smiled back at him, but not a word was spoken until they reached the castle, had chosen a corner to be left in peace and levitated a couple of benches there. Tonks unbuttoned her shirt, leaning against the wall as she unclasped her bra and Teddy eagerly took her breast.

Remus placed his elbows upon his knees, watching her in awe for a moment. Such a simple vision, a mother feeding her son. Yet, he could not imagine something more beautiful, so sheer and sinless, not a soul would be able to see any malice in it. The smile that spread across her lips when the boy began to play with the buttons of her shirt, the continuous movement of his jaw, the pure love in both gazes as they glanced at each other, even the boy's brows quite furrowed. Every inch of that picture before him left his heart aching with desire of playing some part in it, all he wanted was to be included. He looked away. He did not belong with them; he had no part in that beautiful painting. _Actually, you have_, a bit of his brain reminded him, _without you there would be no child_. No, he did not belong with them, he was barely human.

"Ted?" Remus asked, hoping to get his mind to think of anything else.

"Oh, yeah," murmured Dora, taken aback for an instant. "I named him after Dad, you know ..."

"Of course."

"Still gave him your name, though, Ted Remus Lupin."

His eyes went wide in half a second and he had to consciously shut up the part of his brain that insisted on telling him that that boy was his. _You shouldn't have_, was the thought he kept playing in his mind like a mantra, but he could not bring himself to say it aloud.

Too soon, Teddy had finished and Tonks placed him back on the floor, clasping her bra and buttoning her shirt. The baby crawled until Remus and began playing with his shoelaces. Feeling him close, Remus forced himself to look at him. He still looked like a younger version of himself and that look in his eyes pained him, it was way too much like his own, without of course, years of indescribable pain.

"Ted ―" began Tonks restrictively, but Remus shook his head.

"No, it's all right. Let him."

Teddy kept fumbling with the laces and a small smile tugged the corner of her lips. It seemed as though for at least that moment, her son had his father. And well, technically, he had. Remus was before him, allowing him to undo his laces with the mere purpose of not upsetting the boy. If that was not something a father would do, she did not know what would be then. A shiver came down her spine and she was brought back from her thoughts. It was getting late and thus cold, she should at least protect Teddy from it and so she reached for the bag, fiercely sending away a stubborn thought that insisted upon remarking that the shiver had nothing to do with the weather.

The plastic sound called Remus's attention and he saw her going through the shoulder bag, she took away a tiny black jumper and something smaller, white. She kneeled before him, somewhat nervous and struggling to put on the jumper above the boy's head and place his arms in the sleeves. He felt like helping, holding the sleeve so she could put his arms with ease, but he could not. Helping would mean that he was included and included was something he definitely was not. Eventually, she managed to dress him and placed the white object in his mouth, which Remus perceived to be a dummy, painted with the Montrose Magpies crest and he allowed himself a smile. He was definitely his mother's son.

"Do you want to come home and have a cup of tea?" she invited, after standing with the boy in her arms.

"I ..." He stood up, meeting her gaze. "I don't think it's a good idea."

"Come on, Remus," she tried to sound nonchalant by giving him a smile. "It _really_ is just a cup of tea. It doesn't have to mean anything."

He bit his lip. There were many drinks at the table not far from them, they could have taken a couple and headed somewhere to talk if that was what she wanted to do, but perhaps ... He knew naught about caring for a toddler; he had a son and he knew nothing about caring for them. No! He did not have a son. There was Dora ― There was _Tonks_ and that boy whom he had shoved into her life and then there was him, a werewolf who had nothing but a past with them. Perhaps she needed to take care of something for the boy, put him to bed, maybe, so he nodded. He was unexpectedly reminded by the first time she had said those words to him, their first Christmas together, but he knew very well what it meant for her and for him then. Moreover, of one thing he was sure, there was never anything between them that did not mean anything.

Remus started to walk towards the front doors of the castle, but after a couple of steps, he realised he was not hearing hers behind him and looked behind his shoulder for her.

"Thought you meant you were coming," she frowned.

Having listened to her words, he too frowned.

"I ― Well ..." he pointed to the school's gates with his thumb, where he had intended to walk to so they could apparate.

"Oh ... Oh, no, Remus, we can't," she instructed him. "He's too young, what if he Splinched? Merlin, no, can't even think about it!" she held Teddy closer and shook her head trying to get rid of the images floating her mind. "Not taking that risk. We're taking the Floo if you don't mind."

There it was now, the proof he needed that he knew nothing about fatherhood and therefore would never belong with them.

"Right. I'm sorry."

"It's all right," she gazed at her feet, fondly recalling how he would apologise for everything. "McGonagall said I could use her office."

"Mhmm," he nodded trying to concentrate on the path they were taking and ignore the little bit of his mind that wondered what on Earth he was doing.

Silently, they found their way to the Transfigurations' classroom and Tonks got a fistful of the powder, throwing it in the fireplace and watching the green flames come to life. She reached for a small blanket in her bag and threw it upon the boy who had hid his face in his mother's chest. She stepped inside and looked at him quite puzzled, gazing at the spot beside her and back to him.

"How do you think you'll know where to leave?"

"I'm sorry," he shook his head.

"Stop apologising," she grinned.

He opened his mouth to apologise again but stopped half-way and nodded, entering the mantel and standing beside her.

Tonks took off a bit of the blanket from the boy and he gazed at her.

"Don't breathe, all right? Just a minute," she kissed his forehead before covering him again and taking Remus's hand in hers, purposely not intertwining their fingers, she just needed to keep him with her after all. "Moody's," she said clearly and they all began to spin. Half a minute later, seeing the familiar drawing-room, she pulled them out and grinned, letting his hand go and taking the blanket from the baby before cleaning the ashes on him. "Here we are!"


	2. Teddy Lupin

**CHAPTER 2: Teddy Lupin**

Remus blinked a few times, allowing his eyes to adjust to the light as he became aware of his surroundings. After cleaning himself from the ashes, he stepped inside a room with a couch and an armchair, a rug between them and many colourful toys spread across it. There were clothes here and there and he could not help but to feel warmth that came from no source of heat, one he did not feel from over a year and a half, one that came for the sheer feeling of finding himself inside of not a mere house, but a _home_.

Dora placed the boy between his toys, let the bag fall upon the couch and went to the adjoining room, pulling a chair from the round table for him.

"Take a seat," she invited with a smile, taking off her cloak and throwing it on the hanger.

Remus took off his cloak as well, folding it in half and placing it upon the back of the chair she had pulled and sat down. Tonks had already entered a door nearby, where he supposed to be the kitchen for the well-known noise of a kettle whistling came to him. There were numerous objects he did not recognise, but, if this was once Moody's house as she had voiced back at the mantel, they could only be Dark Arts detectors, amidst them, the largest sneakoscope he had ever seen.

Hearing an unusual plastic sound, his gaze fell to the boy near him, he had been shaking a colourful rattle and was now biting it, the dummy he had the minute before was now lost somewhere none of them knew. Remus looked startled at the direction of the door Tonks had entered and back to the toddler. What if he swallowed something he was not supposed to? Would he be able to relieve his throat fast enough? And what if he was used to biting that rattle and she did not approve of him taking it off from her son?

"Dora?" he called, keeping an eye on the boy.

Dora ... Had she heard it right? Of course she had. Her father had been the last person to call her by it, but it never felt as special when it came from Remus's lips. It had been so long since she last heard him calling her by it, she had nearly forgotten how it felt to be called by her nickname and thus she almost toppled the milk jar. Though, however unused to it she was, she would always find it pure coming from him. She was his Dora.

Remus swallowed hard. Oh, Merlin! It still felt so natural, spontaneous, genuine even, but ... Was he even allowed to call her by such reserved nickname?

"Coming!" she shouted back.

She walked back in the room not a minute later with two hot mugs in her hands, placing one in front of him.

"No cream, splash of milk, two sugars."

Taken aback for an instant, he glanced at the beverage before him. A part of him did wish for her to have forgotten the exact way he liked his tea, but the other part beamed with happiness.

Tonks saw her son, chewing the rattle and she placed the mug on the table before walking to him.

"Oh, Teddy…" With a flick of her wand, she had a tiny skip of ice in her hand and took the rattle from him before giving the ice for him and laying a kiss on his forehead, she took off the jumper she had just put on him. "What?" she asked, turning back to Remus and seeing the way he eyed her as she sipped on her tea.

"Oh, um …" He looked from her to the boy and back to her. Teddy was now beating a plush dragon to its death with a pink wolf in his hands. "Nothing."

Dora shrugged, taking another sip of her tea. So typical of Remus, shutting her out again, yet she found herself wanting to ask him what was and beg for him to open up for her, but she would not.

"Firewhisky?" he questioned, eyeing her mug.

She exhaled heavily, before answering "Breastfeeding, Remus."

"Right ..." Another proof as to why he should not be a father.

"Kind of miss it, though."

"Of course," he recalled the amount of Firewhisky they, along with Sirius, had ingested four years ago, he would be surprised if she did not miss it.

Dora closed her eyes for a moment, had he just insinuated she was a drunk? Well, she should have him know that she was the parent he had never been, therefore more responsible to assume her obligations than he would ever be, but she would not fight, not in front of him, Teddy did not deserve to see his parents fighting, it was not his fault. She breathed deeply, looking at her boy, eager to find something else to talk about.

"Do you want a piece of cake?" she asked. "I have some left from Teddy's birthday, few days ago."

He knew it was not a good idea, he knew he should say no, but being so weak after the moon just a couple of nights ago, he found himself nodding.

She went back to the kitchen to fetch them some cake; she placed a piece in front of him, a chocolate one with some red spots he perceived to be cherries.

"Lupin's cake," she informed. "Mum wasn't happy to replace the strawberries by cherries …"

He did not know what to say, she had given her son that cake for his first birthday? The cake they created together? He put a forkful of it in his mouth as if to occupy himself.

"It's … very good," he complimented.

"Yeah, Mum's a great cooker." She smiled for they both knew that had she tried to bake the cake, it would not have turned out that way, but she had to admit, her cooking abilities had improved since she moved out.

"When was it?"

"Um?" She frowned, but understanding crossed her features a second later. "Oh, the 21st. Didn't want to do anything, I mean, he had no idea it was his birthday, but Molly insisted."

The only sound reverberating through the house then was Teddy playing, saying words in baby language that no one knew what they meant. They almost seemed like a normal family, sitting by the table on a Sunday afternoon having the last pieces of their son's birthday party whilst the boy played nearby. Almost, if it was not by the huge invisible barrier between Dora and Remus.

"He really has your eyes, y'know?"

Having finished with the cake, Lupin lowered his mug, gazing at the toddler.

"First thing I noticed when I saw him," she remembered, carefully placing the mug on the table and, as she did so, it seemed for Remus that her hand had shaken a bit. No, it probably was his eyes betraying him. For a moment she seemed to be cautiously choosing her words, a trait that he would never have thought to see in her. Or perhaps she was just stopping herself from crying after the memory, yes, definitely, much more like her. After all, like Mad-Eye once told him, 'Nymphadora Tonks doesn't cry'. Of course it was before she met Remus Lupin, the werewolf who turned her life upside down.

"In fact, he's so much like you, it hurts."

Still looking at the boy, he pondered whether his one-year-old self would have attempted to kill one plush with another. Probably not. It seemed that she was probably seeing him where he did not exist. That little boy may have had his looks at that moment, but he was just like Dora.

"He loves when I read for him." She smiled, gazing at the boy.

_And I recall a certain someone that loved when I read for her_, Remus thought, _I like to read, not to be read for. He's just like you._

"You're reading now?" he questioned and for a moment, Tonks wondered if there was a slight layer of mocking in his tone, probably not, she was most likely so keen for it to be real that she was imagining things.

"Only for him," she answered.

"Ah …"

"He sleeps on the right side of the cot," she chuckled.

_Probably rolls around all night like you, but you caught him sleeping on the right side one morning and now thinks he's like me._

"Is that so?"

She nodded, moving to get her mug, but managing to spill the rest of her tea on her shirt and on the floor.

"Oh, great!" She practically threw the mug back on the table, grabbed her wand and waved to the tea on the floor. "_Scourgify!_" But very little of it disappeared, Tonks sharpened a breath to calm herself. "Be right back," and she left to fetch a cloth in the kitchen.

Remus had been about to drew out his own wand and try to clean it, but the way the roots of her hair became ginger before going back to blonde, he knew better than to argue with that Black stubbornness; she would get it clean even if it meant using Muggle ways. His gaze was attracted back from the kitchen door by a soft fabric touching his hand, he realised that the boy had placed the plush pink wolf in his lap and was walking away, he got the dragon as metallic sounds came from the kitchen and placed it upon his lap too. Tonks came from the kitchen with the cloth in her hands as the boy started to walk away from him. She gave him a puzzled look and he mirrored it, having no idea of what the boy wanted him to do with his toys. Teddy was fetching another toy when he slipped on the tea on the floor and fell flat on his face. Before Remus knew what to do, with two long strides, Dora was by Teddy's side, putting him back to his feet as he began to cry.

"Hey, hey, hey! Just a fright, you're all right, see?" She seemed to be trying to convince herself more than the boy as she checked his little hands. "No, Teddy, no need to cry, it's all right," she wiped the couple of tears from his cheeks, before checking his nose and lips. She got him in her arms, shaking her head and clenching her teeth. "Not really just a fright, was it?"

She placed him on the table and got her wand, there was blood in mouth, but she could not visualise where it came from so, she grabbed a serviette on the table and tried to clean it, but being dry it began to stick to the boy's gum. With an annoyed puff, she put it out and pointed her wand to it.

"_Aguamenti!_" But of course in the state as she was, the jet of water was far too strong and she found herself with a completely wet serviette in her hands, utterly useless to clean the blood and water floating the floor. She tossed that useless piece of wood and the soaked serviette on the floor and took the sobbing Teddy back in her arms before hurrying to the bathroom, a muscle tightening in her jaw to stop herself from swearing in front of the boy.

Remus watched as she tried to care for her son, not entirely successfully, her hair changing to a light shade of green as the boy's was completely white by now. He doubted that she would be able of too much help for him if she was like that and he found himself in a desperate need to see that little boy well once again, playing happily instead of sobbing so hard in his mother's arms. Hence, he placed the toys upon the table and walked to the bathroom just to see that she had a piece of toilet tissue in her hand, watering it at the sink; where the boy was sitting upon and by the state of it, would fall at any second, if it was not held by magic, which most likely it was.

"C'mon, Teddy, let Mummy see," she pleaded, holding his bottom lip and trying to clean some of the blood. Though, her voice was barely audible due to the boy's sobs.

"Allow me," Remus tried to get the tissue from her hand.

"No, I got it," she informed him slightly coldly and twisted her hand to send his away.

The green in her hair had become more intense and he firmly put his hand above hers.

"Dora, please ―"

"**I said I got it!**" She took her hand from the boy's mouth and twisted it strongly to get it free, throwing Remus's hand on the wall with the movement.

For an instant they stared into each other's eyes, but she cut it short for the boy started sobbing harder than ever, standing up to the best his little feet could sustain him and hugging her neck, as if begging for her to make it stop hurting or maybe just for his parents to stop fighting.

"Shh, it's all right, Teddy, let me see," her tone calm once again as she pulled his arms from her neck.

She placed the now smashed toilet tissue upon the blood and could spot a thin cut that honestly would barely have made her stir, but broke her heart to see her little Teddy bear wounded. She did not even spare a glance at Remus leaving when she heard his steps. Had not she been caring for him since before he was born? Who did he think he was to come here after all this time and have the audacity to assume that he could do a better job on caring for that boy than she could? She searched for her wand in her jeans and remembered she had thrown it on the floor back at the dining-room, but walking back in there was out of question, she would not give Remus the pleasure of seeing her there and admitting she had forgotten the crucial item to heal her son. In fact, she did not even know if he was still there, he could have disapparated for all she cared, he would eventually run away from her again, the sooner the better. But ... She wanted him to be there, they have barely talked. No! She did not care about him, he had left her and he would do it again, might as well have done it already. She opened a drawer from the cabinet and amongst lots of bottles of healing potions, beside the Salamander's blood, she located the small container of Dittany, an arm wrapped around Teddy's back all the way, she let a single drop fall upon the small cut and the boy cried harder once again. It stung, she knew that, having felt it more than once, but the pain would stop soon after, a bit of green smoke came from where the wound was and she barely saw the scar. Dora hugged him, taking him off the sink and holding him close to her chest.

"Shh, it's gone, that evil cut is gone, Mum's here." Running her hand up and down his back, she soothed him, leaning on the door. "I know, I know." Feeling his arms wrap around her neck and his cries die somewhat, she walked back to the dining-room.

Remus had sat on a chair, massaging one of his hands with the other. The light pain he had felt when his hand made contact with the wall was entirely gone now and the action was mostly automatically, for he had not been really paying attention to what he had been doing the last minutes. He had absolutely no right to interfere between them, what the hell was he thinking? Maybe he should really just leave and spare them of more awkward silences. They had a perfect life here and he just came to mess it up once again, the life he for so long fought for her to have, the life he so desperately wanted to be a part of and now, he had screwed it all up. However, before he could stand and disapparate, she walked back from the toilet, the boy still crying, but quite calmer in her arms as if proving to him that she knew how to deal with him. The green was gone from her hair, which was now a beautiful, light shade of lilac.

Tonks walked in and immediately saw in his eyes that he had not intended for any of it to turn out the way it did, he really was just worried about Teddy. She knew that she was not exactly calm, with her temperament, she would never really be, not when her boy was hurt, even if it was with the tiniest cut. Once again, she had allowed her emotions to get the best of her.

"Sorry, I ―"

"I didn't ―"

They smiled, falling in silence for an instant before he stood up and insisted "Please."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell at you." She looked at her feet, her hand now on the boy's hair as he slowly realised that there was not a reason to cry anymore.

"It's all right. I shouldn't have got myself into it either way."

"It's okay …" murmured Tonks, placing him beside Remus. "I'm just going get him something to eat. Just a minute."

"All right."

She passed by them towards the kitchen and Remus sat once again, the boy looked at him, swollen eyes and tear-stained cheeks. He sniffed and rubbed his right eye as he walked to the table, he stood on tiptoe to try to locate the toys he had seen upon the table when he was in his mother's embrace, but he was not tall enough yet. Remus wiped the tears from his chubby cheeks before moving to get the plush.

"You're as brave as your mother, you know that?" He held the dragon and the wolf for him to choose, but Teddy looked from one to another without really knowing which one he wanted. "That amount of blood and then Dittany … You held it very well."

The boy grabbed the dragon and Remus was moving to put the wolf on the table when he saw Teddy throwing the plush dragon as far as he could and looking fondly at the wolf in his father's hand with a light pink hair.

Dora came in with a plastic plate and a matching spoon filled with baby food.

"Dinner, Teddy, come here." She put some in his mouth and as she did so, she saw him looking at Remus and only now realising that he was holding the plush wolf with what seemed to be an inquisitorial look to her. "Oh, that's his favourite."

"A pink wolf?" asked Remus incredulously as he handed it to the boy. Certainly someone's stupid idea of a joke and the boy still liked it.

"… A pink wolf," she confirmed.

"And from whom came this funny idea?" he asked sarcastically.

She looked at him for a second, disbelief crossing her eyes before she looked away. Someone had to always mock the werewolf, right? It couldn't be just love, could it?

"Teddy's, apparently," she answered coldly and feeding her son another spoonful. Seeing Remus's puzzled look towards her, she continued "I had just entered the shop to check the price of a few things he needed, to take a look at some clothes, but I wasn't going to buy anything, I barely had gold on me."

Remus knitted his brows. Checking the price? And since when did she not have a decent amount with gold with her?

"I was talking with the seller, we were passing by some toys and he grabbed this one, throwing a bunch of other toys on the floor as he did," she chuckled.

Remus could not stop himself from smiling. Knocking down a bunch of things whilst trying to get a single thing? Definitely like someone he knew.

"We talked for a good while and he was holding it all the time, until when we had to go … I got it from him and placed it back on the shelf, he started crying, but I made him look at me, he stopped crying for a while an ―" she sniffed, eyes completely lost, not looking anywhere specifically.

Teddy was playful hitting the wolf on his father's leg, but Remus was not really paying attention and he leant forward, feeling an urge to hold her and tell her that everything would be all right, but how could he when he knew it would not?

"― and I told him that Mummy couldn't buy it for him because, because there were more important things to buy and he didn't start crying again as he usually does." A single tear had made its way down her cheek and she quickly wiped it away. "He just looked at me really, really sad, his hair was black ― like so dark I've never seen before and I … It broke my heart more than if he had pulled his eyes out, I had never seen him like that. Almost as if he had understood, but he was too young, was just sad that he couldn't have it. And then, I literally was counting the coins I had to buy it, because how could I deny it to him when all he wanted was to have his parents together _for once_?"

She put the plate unceremoniously upon the table and hid her face in her hands, not really crying, but just trying to make the memory vanish from her mind. Remus stood up, he could not take another second of it, he pulled her arm gently, but she refused. He then, kneeled and wrapped his arms around her and she could not resist, she allowed him to pull her to her feet and ran his hands through her hair. She felt safe, the world could fall apart beside her because she was in his arms once again, she was safe. Slowly, she moved her arms from between their chests and placed them around his waist, so familiar, her own body pressed close against his, it was so long since… She pushed him away, he was master on it, wasn't he? Pull her close just to walk away later, but no, not this time.

Remus ran his hand upon his face. Did he really think she would accept him like that after what he had done? He should not have embraced her, he should not even have come to her house to begin with. He watched as she re-started, unsuccessfully, trying to feed the boy, the wolf was clearly so much better than food and he continued to playful hit Remus's leg with it, until his father patted the wolf gently, getting a grin from the boy that even though Remus wanted to return, he found himself unable to do so and let his hand rest on Teddy's back.

"If you're going to give your son one day," Dora made the plate slid and hit Remus's arm, "make it count." She had not been making any progress anyway, she might as well let him give it a try.

Remus stared at the plate and then at her. He had never said anything about giving him one day, but then again, he had been with them for a few hours, if this was not spending a day with your son, what would it be? He took the plate, had some trouble on filling the spoon with that pasty food, but managed to put it in his mouth, as well as the next two tries, but the fourth one was not successful. Teddy shook his head, refusing to eat it and let the food fall on his clothes. He looked at Tonks, who glared at him almost as if annoyed that she would have to clean his clothes. Remus filled the spoon again, but obtained no different effect from his last try and Teddy was now finding it immensely more interesting to play with the food in his T-shirt, spreading it in his face and raising his dirt hands to his father's face with a grin.

"No, Teddy!" He lifted his face out of the boy's reach.

"I'll prepare him a bath," Dora let him know with an irritated tone, her idea of a cruel punishment for leaving.

"Come here, boy, let's just get this finished, all right?" he proposed, offering him another spoonful, which he took and the next two, but not one after that.

When Tonks came back, he looked from her to the plate, as if apologising for not being able to do more and she rolled her eyes. He still had been able to make him eat more than she did, but she was still sort of dull at him. She began taking Teddy's clothes off and he moved his hand full of food on her cheek, but she smiled at him before continuing. Finally, when he was free of all of them, she walked with him to the toilet, setting him on the bathtub and he grabbed the little floating ball, throwing it on the water and spilling it all over her shirt.

"**Remus!**" she called, hearing Teddy laugh.

Remus nearly ran the few steps that separated him from them.

"Is something wrong?"

"No," she answered calmly, but holding that tone that Remus came to know as coming trouble ahead. "Not unless you don't want to bathe your son, because you're going to."

"I ..." _Well ... she must know that I know precisely nothing about bathing a ... a baby._

"I suggest you roll up your sleeves."

But ... what if he hurt him?

"C'mon, he can't stay here all night!"

A colourful ring was thrown on the water by the boy, spilling more liquid on her. Seeing her glare on him, Remus took in a deep breath, rolling up the sleeves of his robes.

"Hold him here," she instructed him and Remus passed his arm around Teddy's back, where hers was. She stepped back to allow him more room as Teddy continued to grin at them, "and pass this cloth on him," she handed him the item already covered with soap.

Twenty minutes, several "**No**, not like that! Like _this_!" and a good litre of water spilled out of the tub later, Dora wrapped a wet and now with an electric blue hair Teddy in a hooded towel and took pity of how Remus was, throwing her own towel at him.

"Thank you," he murmured, drying his face and unable to stop himself from thinking of how good it smelled, just like she did. Vanilla, cream and cherry. He would never forget, not even if he wanted to.

"Now, to his room," she told him and started to walk, taking Teddy with her. Remus placed the towel back on the hanger and followed her, feeling too much like a prisoner with chores to do. Once in the room, Tonks laid the baby on the changing table and looked back at him. "Dry him."

Remus stepped forward and started to carefully pass the towel upon where he was wet.

"You have to tell him what you're doing."

"... But I'm just drying him," he replied with a slight frown.

"I know," she said, crossing her arms over her chest. "He doesn't."

He stared at her still frowning without a clue to what she wanted him to do as Teddy began to entertain himself with the towel.

"Just say what you're doing as you go," she explained.

Remus swallowed and cleared his throat before saying "Um, Ted? I'm drying your hand."

Tonks smiled, shaking her head as she stepped forward, pocketing her hands.

"Remus, is this how people talk with babies?"

"Not exactly, b ―"

"No," she confirmed. "Why?"

He was at a loss of words, why did people talk with babies the way they did? He had no idea, for a moment he wondered if it was _because_ babies talked like that ...

"Because that's how they learn," she answered her own question. "It's natural."

Did she really want him to talk with Teddy _that_ way? He was a respectable man and respectable men did not talk with babies like that. Parents talked with babies like that ... and he was not one.

"I'll show you." She walked over and grabbed Ted's hand, instantly opening a smile before started talking in a playful tone "Hi, Teddy! What's this? It's Teddy's right hand! Yes, it is! And it's clean and dry!" She placed a kiss on his little hand as Teddy giggled. "And this is his left hand!" she announced to her son, smiling all the way as she dried the other hand. "And it's dry too!" She laid a kiss on the left hand as he kept on laughing before she turned to Remus. "Your turn."

He sharpened a breath and took the place before the baby. Did she really want him to? This was ... torture. He could not do it, he was not meant to be around little children. He could handle teaching eleven-year-olds, but this? He was most definitely not born to be a father.

_Can't talk with a baby, but could walk out on me, right?_, she smirked, leaning her shoulder on the wall, watching them.

Teddy's giggles subsided and their eyes locked, Remus could see how much interest the boy held on him, he did not care that his father was a werewolf, that his father would become a monster that could kill him every month. No, Remus could see that all he wanted at that very moment was to have his father there with him and he smiled, despite the bit of his brain still telling him that it was all because he did not really know what his father was. With his chest feeling incredibly lighter, Remus got the little hand and started passing the towel upon Teddy's belly.

"Is this your tummy, Teddy?" He still felt somewhat inappropriate doing it, but his tone was gentler, not exactly playful, but Tonks knew it was the best she would get. Remus laid a feather kiss upon his stomach, but not having shaved for two days, his stubble made the boy giggle madly. "Yes, this is Teddy's dry tummy." He smiled, he had made that little boy laugh, his little boy had enjoyed something he did ...

Dora breathed deeply, her idea of punishment for Remus almost felt as though it was a punishment for herself, she could see how much Teddy was enjoying his father's company and to think that this would be all that he would ever have ... For so long she wished she could see Remus and Teddy happy together, but now she found herself hoping she had never seen, sure Teddy would forget him in a week if that much, but she would not, what they could have been would forever haunt her. No, she was happy, happy that her son could enjoy at least a day to its full with his ... Daddy. Tonks walked away with the pretext of getting the boy's pyjamas.

Remus continued until not a single drop of water could be seen on his body and looked back at Dora, she handed him the lotion and he started to spread it on the baby. Feeling the massive contrast between his calloused, scarred hands and Teddy's soft, slick skin; it all telling him that they were nothing alike, but his smile and the baby's laughter letting him know that they belonged together. The second he was done, Dora handed him a nappy and began instructing him on how to put it on.

"No, no that's too tight!"

He unclasped and clasped it again looser, Tonks smiled and he took it as a sign that it was good now and copying it on the other side. However, when he lifted the boy to his feet, it fell down his legs.

"Too loose," she asserted, raising her eyebrows a bit.

Remus laid the boy down once again and now, feeling as though she had her piece of revenge with the napkin, she helped him adjust it before getting the pyjamas, a little blue T-shirt with moving hippogriffs and matching trousers.

"Do you like blue, Teddy? Yeah, you like blue, your hair is blue and so are your pyjamas! And look, Teddy! Hippogriffs!" She showed him one of the creatures in his T-shirt.

"Umdiguiv," he pointed to the drawing.

"Hippogriff," she repeated kissing his forehead and taking him back in her arms. "I usually let him play a bit more, to see if he's tired enough to go to bed," she informed Remus, who nodded, following her out of the room.

Back in the drawing-room, Dora crouched on the rug with Teddy between her legs, she wrapped her arms around his stomach taking in the sweet smell of his lotion, she had always loved how he smelt after bath. Remus watched her for a minute, she really was leading a wonderful life, the kind of life he so desperately wished for her to live, the kind of life he so dreadfully wanted to be a part of, but as he was reminded not two days ago, he could not. Though, just for one day he would be the father for his son. Slowly, he walked over to them and crouched before her.

"Has he said anything yet?" he wondered, seeing how close he had come to say the name of the creature in his pyjamas.

"Oh, yes, he has!" she grinned slightly tickling his belly. "Haven't you, Teddy? Haven't you, Teddy?" She stopped her fingers, breathed deeply and murmured in his ear "Say wotcher, Teddy, say? Say wotcher to Daddy."

For an instant, Remus wondered if her voice had slightly cracked as she said the last word, but before he could come to a conclusion he heard another voice, a lower and purer one.

"Wodcher, Daddy," grinned Teddy, somewhat bashfully, losing the grip on his mother's hands and placing his fingers in his mouth.

Remus felt his heart sinking. That little boy had just said ... More than ever he wished he was not cursed, that he did not have to turn into a vicious monster every month, just so he could stay there forever. But he could not. He was not, he was not a _Daddy_. He was a beast and he should not even be allowed this close to such a wonderful boy.

Dora did not know if she beamed or if she cried, for a month she had been trying to make him say Mummy, the word Teddy heard at least thirty times a day, but instead, after hearing Daddy for about three times, he spoke it. She swallowed hard and adjusted the boy's T-shirt.

"You're lucky," she announced. "He just said another new word." She put up a smile the resembled too much the one she had put all day as she entered a new celebration party, even though she did not wish for it to happen.

Remus looked from her to the boy, grabbing his mother's hands with his little ones. It was not possible, no, not this, so it was not because he had been there, that could not have been the reason.

"It's just easier, Dora," he clarified. "Daddy is so much easier for them to say."

Tonks kissed Teddy's cheek, tapped his bum lightly and stood up.

"Yeah," she asserted, her voice holding that tone that left no room for further discussion, as she walked out of the room and into the kitchen.

Remus let his head fall, this should not be happening, this entire day had been wrong. All he did was spoil the life he fought so hard for them to have. He should leave, as soon as she was back there he would excuse himself and leave, he would not disturb their life for another minute. He had done enough harm already. He smiled as the boy hit him with that pink wolf one more time. This would be the last time, the first and the last time that he would play with his son, so he sat down and despite all weariness he had from the recent transformation, he got the plush from the boy and began tickling him with his favourite toy.

Tonks slid down the kitchen wall, her breath coming out in a tired puff. Maybe some things were really meant to be, one day he would say Mummy and she would be thrilled when he finally did. It did not have to mean anything that even though her son did not have his father in his life, he had said Daddy before, it really did not have to mean something, things would get better soon. Hearing her favourite laughter, she looked back at the dining-room; Remus was tickling her baby and she could see the happiness in both their eyes. _Just like a father should do_, she thought. Specially, she could see how much of a parent Remus was being at that moment. The fatigue from the last full moon was clear in his eyes, in his whole body, but he still found in him to put it aside and make his son happy. Maybe she could do something to help him. A proper dinner, yes, they had the wonderful feast at Hogwarts, but she felt almost as though she dragged him home, stopping him from eating. She could feed him a proper dinner instead of just a piece of Teddy's birthday cake; last week's spaghetti would be perfect. She put a Warming Charm on it and after waiting a few minutes, she shared it in two plates and re-entered the dining-room.

The smell of food caught his attention the instant she stepped into the room.

"Dinner." She smiled shyly.

Remus stood up and opened his mouth with the intention of telling her that he was actually leaving when he saw her smile. It had always captivated him, even though it was not the laugh so worriless she used to let out, he could not say no to her. He closed his mouth and his gaze fell to the food. He would not say no to her, not when she had prepared him dinner because he knew she was no good in the kitchen and she could not have prepared it in the short amount of time she was out of the dinning-room, but she must had prepared it someday and she had thought of his needs at that moment, despite everything he had done to her. Dinner would be a nice closing.

"Warmed up and from about three days ago, but I think it's good enough."

"Thank you." He nodded curtly as they sat down.

After the first bite, Remus knew that he could have done a better spaghetti right after he had transformed back after a full moon, he eat a second forkful and was sure he could eat enough to make it look as though he had liked it and not hurt her feelings at all, but after the third bite he stood up with his plate in his hand and gestured for her to give him hers; he would not let her eat it after the way she had treated him regardless of what he had put her through.

"What?" she asked confused.

He took his time to finish chewing and swallow before saying "I'll cook you something nice. Give me that."

"This is nice!" She frowned. "My cooking has quite improved since I moved out from Mum's."

"Certainly has," he agreed, "but you don't have to eat it tonight. I'll cook you something better."

Tonks straightened her eyes for a few seconds, but let the fork she had half-way to her mouth fall on her plate.

"Fine."

Remus got her plate in his free hand and proceeded to the kitchen. Dora stood up and got Teddy before following him, she put her son on the corner of the room, where he would not disturb any cooking, but she could still keep an eye on him.

"What d'you wanna cook?"

"_Evanesco!_" He cleaned the plates with his wand before turning to her. "Whatever you want," he smiled, "or have here."

"Beef stew?" she suggested.

"Sounds lovely."

Tonks got out the beefs and Remus began working on them, several knives cutting the meat at the same time under his watch.

"Something else to accompany it?" he wondered.

She thought for a moment.

"Potatoes?" she questioned, showing him with a tilt of her head just how much she got stocked of those. "They're Teddy's favourite, it seems; or maybe some salad."

Remus took a couple of steps and got a single potato, he stared at it in apparent deep thought for half a minute before turning to her.

"Chips?" he asked.

"Exactly!" Her eyes widened. "... How did you know?"

"I ... They used to be my favourites too." He swung the potato in his hand. "My mother used to cook me, whenever I had a particularly bad transformation."

Dora clenched her teeth, trying not to close her eyes in frustration. She could not bear when he talked about his transformations when he was just a little boy, not much older than her own son ... She wanted to be there for him, she wanted to cook him chips and heal his wounds on the next day, whatever it took to make him feel somewhat better. Unsure of what possessed her at that moment, she reached for his free hand and squeezed it.

Remus felt the pressure in his hand but did not look at her, he did not deserve her love, he was unworthy of such a wonderful woman like her. He threw the potato in the air a few inches and only then dared to look at her.

"Mind if I ...?" He tilted his head towards the vegetable.

"Not at all!" she shook her head, grabbing a few more potatoes.

They worked together on their dinner for a while longer than half an hour, with Remus doing most of the job, but instructing Tonks to help him with the simpler tasks. It was so easy for him to feel at home there, that messy kitchen had something appealing to him, was it either the likelihood of opening a drawer and finding some sort of Dark Arts detector or opening a door and seeing baby bottles filled with milk, it all amused him in a way he could not really explain. He opted for cooking a far larger amount that they would be able to eat during that night, just to make sure she would have a somewhat better food to eat at least for the following week. Surprisingly, they started to talk, or rather Dora started to talk, he was indeed wondering until when she would be able to endure the silence between them. She would tell him stories of Teddy, how he had first walked a month ago or when he turned into a perfect copy of Harry whilst being on his lap. Remus was enjoying being there, almost as though they were back at the old days and he was cooking for her once again, his heart was so much lighter and they were smiling at each other ... Until Teddy came over to the cooker, for half a second he was not able to reach for one of the pot handles and overthrow the food upon himself, if it wasn't for Tonks he would have gained some pretty bad burnings. A warning, he knew, another one of many to prove him that he was not meant to be a father.

When the beefs and the chips were ready, both of them eat quietly, exchanging a few words here and there, but merely watching their son, who appeared to be oblivious to his parents in the room and was enthusiastically playing with his plush. However, a few moments later, Teddy got up and gazed at them for a short instant, walking over to them very slowly. Tonks perceived his movement, but stood still until Remus leisurely began to turn his head towards the boy.

"Don't look at him," she advised lowly, but sharper than intended.

Remus looked back at his food before his eyes had met the toddler, frowning questionably at her, somewhat afraid of asking why.

"He's hungry," she explained, "but if we offer something to him now, he'll refuse," after taking her time to swallow, she assured him. "He's gonna come and ask if we leave him be."

"Oh." Lupin still thought it did not make a lot of sense, but who was he to say anything either way, he had just met the boy, but if Dora, who knew him all his life, had said he would came, then he believed her.

When Teddy finally made his way to the table he leant on his mother's knee for a moment, looking straight at her, but she just smiled when she looked back at him. Still slowly, he grabbed the edge of the table with both his little hands and tried to look above it, but he was unable to.

"See?" Tonks shredded a very small piece of meat and gave to him, Teddy chewed a bit and swallowed, smiling at her when he finished. "Didn't get that from me, you know. Mum said I would eat anything, chubby baby that I was, said she too had to control my eating, but the other way around," she grinned, giving him another bit of meat.

Remus's eyebrows furrowed in a slight frown, he did not recall his mother ever saying he had given her any trouble on not eating a lot, but he had to admit that ever since he met Dora, he also did not recall seeing her barely eating, except maybe after ... a psychological trauma, but she had really good reasons then. However, he could not deny that that boy could have inherited it from someone else of her side of the family, Andromeda for example, he could easily believe that it had come from the boy's maternal grandmother. But what if maybe, just _maybe_ he had indeed inherited it from him, he knew how unlikely it was for that boy to be a perfect copy of his mother. Perhaps, Teddy did have a thing or two from him, perhaps he could be able to see himself in that boy, perhaps ― His thoughts were interrupted by the feeling of two tiny hands gripping firmly on the fabric of his robes above his knee.

"You can feed him, you know." Tonks offered him a half-smile. "He's not gonna bite you," she finished with a grin.

Bite him? But why would he be afraid of that little boy biting him? Was he ...? No ... The immediate thought that occurred to him was that he had passed on his terrible condition to the boy. But it was really just a joke, wasn't it? Or was she indeed serious? She could not have been serious.

Seeing the terror in his eyes, Tonks swallowed hard, looking away from him.

"No, Remus," she said, "he's not a werewolf. I'm sorry, I shouldn't ―" She shut her mouth before saying another word, cursing herself from choosing such word.

"It's all right, it's ... good," he spoke after a moment.

And she was reminded once again that he would leave, like he always did. Afraid of hurting either of them, ignoring the fact that none of them cared in the slightest that he would become what he feared the most once a month. But this time she would not let herself be sad over it, she would be prepared. He would leave, but she knew it would happen. She would not feel as though he left her again, she would not be sad about it. Even if by any miracle, he decided to stay, one day he would walk away again and Teddy would suffer so much more than if it happened at that moment and she could not bear the thought of her little baby hurt, even if it was by the love of her life. Perhaps, especially if it was by him, because she knew he would have meant no harm, he would have had no intention to do any wrong to either of them; it would have been his ghosts. Better that way anyway, although he did enjoy his father for a day, Teddy would not remember him.

"G ― give him a bit of chips," she instructed him, voice choking slightly. "He likes them," she added, having apparently forgotten that she had told him that those were his favourites.

Remus chopped a bit of the potato and handed the boy, who eat it and offered him a grin. He wished so badly to return that grin, but he could not, not when he had seen how Dora was, how much he had hurt her and how much he could still hurt her if he stayed. However, that little boy's grin filled him with such peace that he was nearly addicted to it and fed Teddy with more chips, earning an identical grin of the one from an instant ago.

When Teddy yawned, finally showing signs of being tired and hiding his face on his father's thigh, Tonks took him and stood up.

"Come on, bear," she said, walking with him to his room. "Time to go to bed."

Remus heard him moan, seeming to dislike the fact that he was being dragged to sleep and rather stay and play more. He wanted to go after them and perhaps, say good-bye once and for all, but could he? He knew how much she was hurt, he had heard it in her voice, he did not think he deserved to take from any of them anything else. He looked away from her, resigned to never see that boy again when his eyes caught a glimpse of something pink and that boy certainly should not sleep without his favourite toy.

Dora was carefully brushing Teddy's teeth on the changing table when he walked in.

"I ― I figured he'd like it to sleep with," he explained before their eyes met and raising the wolf in his hand.

"Thanks," she muttered her voice cold as she resumed her previous task.

Had his heart not been sinking from the perspective of soon saying his farewells, Remus would have smiled at the sight of Teddy grasping his feet with his hands and laughing at his mother.

Tonks took him to the toilet to finish all needed care before taking him to the cot and tucking him in. She did not need to spare a glance at Remus to know that he was feeling misplaced that things were not the way that either of them wished it to be, but it was not her fault, she could do nothing, he had chosen it. However, she still found herself walking to the frayed copy of Beedle, the Bard and throwing it at Remus, who almost did not catch it, probably making the book's state even worse in the process.

"Babbity Rabbity."

Remus looked from the book to Dora, who was leaning down and kissing Teddy. He walked over and stopped at the opposite side of the cot she was, watching the boy look curiously at him as he placed the wolf beside him and Teddy promptly hugged the toy. He cleared his throat before beginning.

"A long time ago in a far off land ..."

He read the story in the steady pace he knew Dora liked so much when he read for her; by the corner of his eye, he could see when she looked at him for a few seconds and returned her gaze to the boy between them, but she did not say a word and he did not dare to look away from the book. Even when he heard Teddy's steady breathing, letting him know that the boy was sound asleep, he found himself unable to stop reading, almost as though it was an attempt to postpone the inevitable, but in any case, Dora had asked him to read the entire story, hadn't she? She most likely knew if he stopped in the middle the boy would wake up.

Tonks heard her husband stably tell the tale to their son as she watched Teddy slowly drift to sleep. Not once since she began reading for him, he had slept during it, he had always managed to wait until she had finished, but now, when his father was reading for him, he had. It seemed that she was not the only one who loved Remus's voice after all, she had to admit, it was one of the most wonderful sounds she had ever heard; especially, when he had said he loved her. She could not bring herself to ask him to stop, not when she knew she would most likely never hear it in at least a very long time. If he wanted to stop, he would have.

"... and no witch or wizard was ever persecuted in the kingdom again. The End."

Remus finished the story, closing the book and glancing at Teddy, who had held the wolf and laid slightly to the right side of the cot, face turned to Dora and a bit closer to the side he was than to hers. She leant to him and placed a feather kiss upon his cheek.

"Good night, love," she smiled, letting her fingers run through his now turquoise hair. "I'll be back to check on you later, 'kay? I promise," she guaranteed him, just like she had always done when he was afraid of the dark and did not want her to leave.

Tonks walked away slowly and Remus placed the book on the bedside table, he glanced at the boy one last time, wondering if he was even allowed to kiss him, but he could not, not after all the harm he had, and still would, cause him. Besides, a kiss would be the final dot, the mark that would seal the end of the only day he would ever have with his son and for some power bigger than him, he found out that he could not put an end to it. So, he sharpened a breath, closed his eyes and followed her unwillingly outside the bedroom. She sat at the table, using her fork to mess with the now cold food that was still on her plate. He knew it was the end, but before he could leave, as he looked at her ... He knew what was coming, after over a year of arguments and discussions; they both did.

* * *

**A/N:** This was fast, wasn't it? Hope you guys enjoyed it and thanks for the lovely feedback on the first chapter and I'll love you if you let me know what you thought of this one. ^^  
Anyway, place your bets for the final chapter! How do you think it'll end from what you've read so far? ;)  
E Júlia, você tem toda razão, não ouço Selena Gomez pra falar a verdade, mas a música encaixa muito bem com essa fic ("Even if we try to forget/Love will remember" Minha nossa!).


	3. Us

**CHAPTER 3: Us**

Though, Remus did not wish to have that same discussion, not again. He needed her to be happy, he needed her to be the woman he fell in love with for her own sake as well as for Teddy's and there was but one way he knew he could do that. He did not wish to walk away from her or from that boy, but he knew he had hurt them more than they ever deserved and if she was able to put it all aside maybe they could ... He did not have during the entire night the slightest indication that she wanted him back in their lives, not that way, but more than ever he wanted to be, he had seen how much work it was to take care of that boy and he had only stayed in her house for a few hours, the entire routine would repeat itself everyday with no break and Dora, despite being the most energetic person he had ever met, could definitely use someone to help her with him.

"Dora," he called sitting and not daring to look at her, he leant his elbows on his knees, focusing his eyes on his twined fingers, "could you forgive me?"

Tonks lifted her gaze, wide eyes glancing at him until he got the courage to look at her and meet her eyes, which were gazing deeply into his with an expression he could not read.

"You ― You wan ― _You want to come back?_" Tilting her head to the side slightly, she looked at him, needing to make sure if he had meant what she really thought he had.

Remus kept staring at her. He had meant to simply ask for forgiveness, precisely as he had said; no hidden meanings between the lines. However, as she looked at him with her dark blue eyes, demanding the truth from him, he found himself wanting to give her the opposite answer to the one he would have initially considered. If they were going to wander through those turbulent waters, if it was a matter of wantonness, yes, he wanted to come back. If the truth was on the table, it should be the only thing upon it and so, he found himself gazing at his shoes and nodding; not wanting to properly voice it for some reason, perhaps afraid he would lose the courage to do so.

She could see what he truly wanted inside those amber orbs, all the regret from leaving them ... There he was, asking to come back after such a long time, what she so powerfully had wished for, was now happening. Yet, she found herself unsure if she would take him back. Not that she did not wish to have him with her no, never that, but something else. What would stop him from walking out that door with absolutely no intentions of coming back once again? He had done it twice already and she knew it was not his love from her, but his own fears, something she could help him through, but it had to be mostly a battle he had to fight on his own. And she could not let her little boy come out wounded of that battle.

"You're the kind of bloke I'd never need to worry about looking twice at another woman, which" she half-smiled pleasantly, "is more than I have ever asked for, but it also ― it also breaks me," she stated with a trembling chin, "because you don't know how won ― wonderful you are and how much you are w ― worth it." She gazed at him and a single tear had made its way down her cheek before she breathed deeply. "What stands between us and happiness, Remus, is not your lycanthropy or the way society would look down at us, it's your unreasonable fear of losing us and _that's_ how you'll end up losing us once and for all, that's what's caused this."

He was kind, brave, chivalrous and he could even be funny every now and again. He was a wonderful man. She knew that. The only problem was, he did not. And she could not foretell when he would decide that he had been the worst choice she had ever done again. He could break her heart a million times with comments and leavings whenever he pleased, but he would not break Teddy's. She would not allow it, not when she knew that if it ever happened, it could have been avoided by her. She wished she could fight that battle of self-pity for him, it would be much simpler, go and prove him wrong, the end. But he was the only one who could do it. He was the only one that could know what would happen with them from that point onwards. It all came down to one question.

"Would you ever leave ... again?" she asked, her voice low and quiet, so uncharacteristic of her.

It had been a bad ― _terrible_ idea. Hearing her words made him feel as though he was being truncated by a sharp knife. Albeit he was expecting for her to feel somewhat sad and injured even, it still hurt. If having him with her and consequently, risking her life was the way to make her happy, than he would take the thought of possibly hurting her as a punishment willingly.

"Dora, I know I don't deserve, but _this_," he looked around, encompassing with his eyes, the toys, their leftovers and the stairs, indicating the sleeping boy in his room, "is a kind of life that I am fully aware that will be not easy, but I have never found myself wanting to be part of something more than I want to be in your life right now. I will stay with you," he guaranteed her.

She wanted to believe him, she wanted so bad to know that what he had just said would last for the rest of their lives. But he said it before and left her anyway. Could she trust him once again? Or would she be a fool to let him do this again to her and to Teddy after everything he had done.

"That's the whole point of it, Remus!" she stormed. "You deserve it, you do!"

Shaken, Remus looked at her. How many times could one get it all backwards and do everything wrong?

Tonks put her hand behind her neck, trying to set her necklace loose, but clumsy like she was, even worse for her hands kept shaking, she could not and losing her patience, she grabbed it firmly and strongly pulled it until it snapped, revealing that what he had previously thought to be a pendant in a necklace was in fact, a wedding band, one Remus recognised immediately. Remus's wedding band.

"You vowed to stay by my side, Remus, remember?" Tears were rapidly forming in her eyes as she swung it in front of him. "Whatever happened we would be together, but the first thing that was out of our plans, you walked away from me. I need to know that this meant to you as much as it meant for me and that you won't do like the Ministry, calling it invalid for several stupid reasons."

"I'm so sorry, Dora, I'm sorry. I never meant you _any_ harm," he spit the words as fast as he could, struggling for something that would make her feel any better. "I know it's no excuse, but having him hating me for what I am, passing on my curse ― I was afraid, so afraid. I was terrified."

"_And was I not?_" She had to stop herself from yelling, the tears that were threatening to fall before were now running free down her cheeks. "Having another human being depending on me to survive was terrifying! Let alone during a war! But I had you and you'd help me so I was happy. But then I didn't anymore and it was even worse! I needed you so badly _but you were not there!_"

Remus closed his eyes swallowing hard before standing up. He should not have even started it to begin with. It was all wrong.

"I ― You're right. I don't know what I was thinking ― I shouldn't ―" He walked over to the mantelpiece, placing both his hands on the wood, searching for the Floo powder and pondering for a moment where he should go, perhaps the Hogwarts school still had some people around and he could escape somewhere to think of what the hell he had done with both their lives. "I'm sorry for importuning your day, I'll ― Where's the powder?"

"This is Mad-Eye's house." She looked at him, ignoring what he had said.

Remus's eyes were drawn back to her, she was looking at the floor beneath her feet and he dared not to move until she voiced another word.

"His will was released a couple of days after you ... left. Got everything, seems like he really had no one else. It's what saved me through all this time." Her gaze met his and he seemed to finally allow himself to walk towards her, sitting once again. All the memories from the previous year began to hush through her, everything she had put Teddy through, not because she wanted to, but because she did not have a choice; still desperately wishing things were different somehow. She looked away from him.

Remus awaited her to continue if that was what she felt like doing, he would not push her when she was clearly lost in painful remembrances, he had absolutely no right to.

"Stayed at Mum's 'til July. Completely useless and just watching time pass by. Dad's birthday, Christmas, Mum's birthday ... We were basically counting time from special date to special date, not that any of them was exactly cheerful anyway, we were all stuck in there. And then, Dad left." She breathed deeply, looking at the floor, but not exactly seeing it. "Went out to do the noble thing, to rid us from the burden of a Muggleborn, saying that Mum's pure blood would save us! _Mum's pure blood, Remus!_ The thing we _despised_ the most! The thing _I_ had been **fighting against all along!**" She began to shout looking deeply into his eyes, as if hoping he would see the similarities between what her father had done and what he did.

And how could he not? He could not find a single word to say to her, he deserved to listen to every hateful word from her. He watched as she buried her face in her hands, gathering some of her decorum to not wake Teddy before continuing.

"He died a bit later. We were both ... devastated. You know how I was always closer to him than Mum, Dad's little girl," she managed a smile as she remembered him saying it countless times. "We grew apart; I couldn't bear to put any of my suffering on her because of how I was without you and she ― The way she was ... I don't know, I guess she felt the same. We just hid ourselves in our rooms all day. She started cooking and knitting like crazy the way she always did when she was nervous, since I was a kid. We talked during meals, though, she'd ask about the baby, I'd tell her the news and she helped me through it. But him, Remus, that miracle we created, was what got me through it all. I don't know what I'd've done without him."

We ... she had said _we_ and not simply you and I ... But it was not what he was thinking, it could not be. Despite it all, he knew what would have happened without that little boy, most likely he would not have left her and perhaps they could be living their happy, simple life together, but no, he had to be so careless! It was as though it was a punishment for him to think that he ever deserved to be happy.

"And I was terrified of having a girl. The way Mum and I were ... The whole mother-daughter dynamic scared the life out of me. I didn't know if I could be a good mother to a girl, I was just terrified. See, I didn't want to pass on any of my insecurities to her and ... I never told anyone, though," she informed him, glad to finally be able to put it out of her chest without any fear. "Molly became obsessed on trying to found out the gender, thousands and thousands of methods, some said I was having a boy, some said I was having a girl. In the end, we couldn't be sure so, we knitted him a bunch of yellow, green, white and black stuff. Good thing 'cause we couldn't go out to buy lots of clothes, so yeah. Of course I sucked, but Mum and Molly were wonderful, even Ginny knitted him a pair of booties; he has lots of them to this day," she managed a chuckle, but it did not last.

"I couldn't do much to help the Order and they ended up pushing me away. Can't blame them, though. At the end of the day, I was always exhausted, just exhausted. I couldn't have done much." She breathed deeply, a shadow of a smile crossing her lips. "The day I heard you on the radio, I ... I was just _so happy_ to know that you were alive and I started crying because I was a mess." She smiled, but more tears came down her eyes. "But I was happy, happier than I had been in so long; knowing that you were okay was enough ..."

Tonks wiped away her tears, trying to compose herself for a moment as he handed her a shabby handkerchief, which she had no choice but to take it. Drat him and his courtesy. Her eyes on him for an instant, she was astonished at how easy it was to simply kiss him at that very moment, kiss him like she had been wanting for so long, and end all her pain faster than a Firebolt.

"Then, he was born. It was so hard, Remus, so hard to do it, _especially_ without you. When I first saw him, though, I ― I was _thrilled_ to finally meet him and I started crying because he was so much like you, I wanted you to meet him and feel what I was feeling, but ―" She breathed deeply, looking up. "Mum started crying too when I told her his name, bet not even she knew if she was happy for Dad or sad because of you."

Her family ... Another unpleasant reminder that they would be wagging a battle against the whole world to be together, her own mother did not like him, her father was even worse. And he could not blame them, they had every right to feel their daughter deserved better. But if that would make her happy, he was certain he could go through with it.

"Nobody had the guts to let me know about the battle because it was only eleven days after Teddy's birth. Probably a good thing, though; not sure if I'd have stayed. And had I died ... Merlin, I don't even wanna think about it, Teddy would have no one but my broken mother to take care of him and ― _Merlin, no!_"

Her fingers went through her hair as she looked to her feet and Remus reached for her, but retracted his hand at a second thought.

"We finally had peace, Mum helped me through the first months, but she was just too depressed without Dad and I wasn't the most cheerful person, so I decided to leave. I wanted ― I _want_ Teddy to grow up in a happy home and well, by leaving I'd be sure it depended only on me." She breathed deeply, she knew she could have been happier for Teddy's sake, but sometimes it was just too much, she did the best she could however, it still did not seem enough to her.

"Got my job back, but stayed on maternity leave for a while. I don't even know why I did it, guess I wasn't really thinking. I couldn't be a single mother and an Auror. I had Teddy and I was alone. I needed to be home for him, so I quit."

It got Remus by surprise, having a job she loved and that paid her more than she was able to spend was one of the few things he knew would help her during that new stage of her life, but he was forced to admit that he had not thought about it before he left. If she did not wish for someone else to raise her son instead of her, she would need to resign. Perhaps he really did not deserve to be taken back by her, he did not even think of what would happen if he left them, what kind of life was she taking since she could not do what she loved the most?

"Felt as though I was back at Hogwarts, trying to find something that I liked and that fit my life. I started to look for something that could be done at home, but nothing seemed good. So, I tried things that I could take him with me instead. I found out that the Prophet was hiring someone to write a sports column, so I got it. Mainly, I watch the Quidditch matches and write about it, but I'm not really good, I can't, you know, write something like you say, that make everyone see what was really happening and don't want to stop reading ever! If I was better, I'd make more, I don't make enough to pay what I spend, not with Teddy growing this fast and I need to buy him new clothes all the time and ― Ginny helps me; I'm getting better, I suppose, but I'm nothing like you ..."

For a split second, Remus was sure that he would prove her wrong by saying that he was not that good, but he realised that it would not help her situation in the slightest. He knew, however, that she not being like him was the reason he loved her so much, she could take the greyest of skies and turn it blue. One could say she was the complete opposite of him, but that was what fascinated him the most.

"Mad-Eye's will saved me, think it'll last for another year. Guess buying baby stuff was not what he had in mind when he left the note saying only 'Use it well, Nymphadora!'" Tonks chuckled, eyes still lost somewhere around the room. "I don't know what happens next, though. I could get my job back I suppose and leave him with Mum, but I don't want to do that ..."

Remus wondered if she was even aware of him in the room, she seemed to be talking as though he was not there, as if she was just analysing the possibilities of her future with her own self. Or even forgotten about him asking her to be back together, she did not seem to be including him in any of the alternatives. However, when her eyes lifted to meet his and an ember lit deep down, he thought for a moment that she was indeed considering a life with him in the near future.

"I take him with me to the matches, I wish I didn't have to, but I don't really have a choice. Sometimes, when the match is taking too long, I have to come back and leave him with Mum. Of course she hates it, says I shouldn't do what I do, but come on, other than being an Auror is probably the only thing I could do decently. Besides, he likes to be surrounded by a lot of people, at least during the first couple of hours, gets a bit cranky after that. I'm telling you, he'll either love or hate Quidditch when he gets older, he won't be one of those guys who say they don't care ― No. One or the other." Tonks allowed herself a chuckle before continuing.

"Some days I manage to catch more than one match and I know he's tired already, usually, I am too, but more matches mean more money and I do it for him. I just hope that if he doesn't like it later, he'll at least understand ... what I had to do ..." Dora let her gaze fell down to the floor once again, her head supported by her hands which were running quickly through her hair, not caring how messy it would be afterwards.

"He even manages to sleep in my arms when it's too long, around the fourth or fifth hour, something like that. The guys love him, we stay in the press cabin, which is good 'cause it's a bit more private, but loud anyway. Everybody knows him there, when it's a final or a match that I know will last forever, I don't take him and I prepare myself to explain a thousand times why he didn't come ... Three or two times a week it's the same thing, over and over. Yesterday was hell because of today, you know, they gathered the matches all in one day and I managed to get three of them, stayed up till half past three writing all the articles. Bet they were crap, but that was the best I could do, specially having to spend all day out today ..."

Remus could see that tears were slowly forming in her eyes once more when she met his gaze. He could see how exhausted she was, not only physically, but also mentally. He wanted to help her, he did not wish for her to carry this burden on her own. However, as she reminded him, how could she trust him again? She was right in not taking him back right away, what kind of mother would she be? He wanted to regain her trust, but how?

"Where have you been?" her tone was almost accusatory.

"Me? I ―"

"Yes, you. Because I haven't heard so much as a word on you since ..."

Remus cleared his throat.

"I went hiding after I left. Tried to locate Harry, but I failed, so I went on hiding. Had Death Eaters tailing me, so I couldn't stay in the same place for too long, but I continued to do some jobs for the Order. After the great battle however, I went abroad. Mostly in Ireland, they're a good people. Got some Muggle jobs, but I always resigned after three weeks. Even though their legislation towards werewolves isn't as harsh as ours, I preferred to keep my distance. Kingsley found me a week ago, said I had to go. It was a celebration and he would not take no as an answer." He rolled his eyes. "I wasn't going to come, but after the full moon, I'm not sure what happened, but I felt like I should come. So I did."

"How are you holding up?" questioned Dora and Remus could see how much she still cared about him, how much she wished he would still be all right in the next morning, he cursed himself for still causing on her that much deal of pain.

"Don't worry about me, Dora," he pleaded. "I'm used to this, I've dealt with it all my life. It's yourself, you should worry about; yourself and Teddy."

"_Then tell me, Remus!_ **Tell me, how do I stop worrying about you? Tell me, how can I not think about you every day of my life?**" Tonks let her head fall in her hands, her shoulders shaking violently as she cried.

To see her so broken, hurt Remus more than he thought it would. He reached for her hand, but stopped himself again when her head surfaced.

"You must know I never stopped loving you. You must know that I wish, to this day I wish you haven't left! You must know that I can't sleep on full moons nights; that I just can't stop loving you ..." She swallowed hard, closing her eyes for a moment. "You know how long it took for him to ask someone beside me to play with him? Do you know how long it took for him to ask someone else for food, _Remus_?" She did not even bother answering her own rhetorical questions. "He trusts you already ... How many times had I told you that I _don't_ care? _Does he care, Remus?_"

He was about to tell her that Teddy did not know what he was, but he knew she would retort saying it was because it did not matter. How could he be the great man she had said he was so many times if he was able to this to her?

"What would you do if we're together and the world comes down, Kingsley's killed and they start hunting and killing werewolves and their supporters and families alike, so it's clear that leaving us is our best shot of survival?"

Remus looked at her terrified. His mouth went dry as his eyes widened. She could not possibly expect for him to put them through ―

"You see! I'm **NOT** better off without you, Remus! WE are **not** better off without you! No matter what! Would you die for me, Remus?" she enquired all of a sudden.

"In the blink of an eye."

"Then, _please_, understand that _I_ would die for you exactly the same way!"

It was as though something made sense in his mind. How could she believe that he loved her when he had hurt her so badly? If there was a way ... a way that he would either keep his word of never ever leaving her side again or ... He would rather leave this life than ever leave her side once more. Remus could almost hear his brain click when the idea came to him.

"Take out your wand," he demanded, standing up and drawing out his own wand.

"Wha ― Why?"

Remus looked deeply into her eyes, putting upon his as much honesty as he was able to.

"I know I have vowed to stay with you before, but I did not stick by my word. I'll vow again and this time however, I'll make it unbreakable. I'd rather die than leave you again," he realised. He carefully took her hand and grasped her fist firmly, pointing his wand to their hands and waiting for her to do the same.

Dora stared for a couple of seconds at their united hands, breaking his grip and getting up the following instant.

"I don't want you trapped with me by a spell, Remus." She walked a few steps, turning her back to him and crossing her arms over her chest. An Unbreakable Vow was not the answer, she did not want him by her side because if he left, he would die. No, she wanted him with her because he wanted. She did not want him to leave, yes, but taking that option away from him was not how things were meant to be. "You should stay with me because you want, you shouldn't want to leave because you know we'll face whatever it comes together. You should have the option to leave, but I should know that you won't because you love me. It's called trust, Remus ..." She breathed deeply, more tears falling before she continued, "and I don't know if I can trust you again. S'not that I don't want because it's taking everything in me not to kiss you right now, but I just can't see Teddy hurt," she added almost apologetically.

Remus let himself fall on the chair. He knew he should leave, she had said what she wanted and clearly he was not a part of either her future or Teddy's. He had no place in there because she could not trust him anymore. Well, he should have known what he was getting himself into when he left her. Tears came to his eyes as the realisation that it was over weighed upon him, not because he did not want to hurt her, but because she could not trust him and from it, he knew there was no return.

"Fuck, Remus."

Dora ran her hand on her forehead. It had been almost a year since she had last used that word, but she felt the moment deserved. Why did he have to leave? _Why did he have to leave?_

He was willing to make an Unbreakable Vow ... but she wanted him to leave if he felt he did not belong with them, she wanted him to leave if he preferred to be elsewhere, she wanted him to leave if he ever did not love her anymore. Just like any other couple, Remus could easily fall in love with someone way more suitable to him however, by wanting to make an Unbreakable Vow, he had given to her every proof she would ever need that he did not have the slightest intention of walking out of her door forever. If an honourable man like Remus did not deserve one more chance, who would?

With two long strides she had knelt between his legs, her lips so eagerly tracing the path they knew so well, clumsily pressing over his as her hands went from his thighs to his back, bringing his torso as close to hers as their position allowed. It did not matter that it took him a while to understand what was happening before he returned the kiss, it did not matter that their tears were mixing upon their cheeks before she broke apart and buried her face in his chest. They were Remus and Dora once again, they were together. Not word could describe how he felt when he realised he was the reason that her hair had become her ― _their_ favourite shade of bubble-gum pink.

"I just love you _so_ much!" she cried.

"Merlin, I ― I love you too, Dora."

"You gotta talk to me, though," she pointed out. He may need to fight that battle by himself, but it did not mean that she could not hold his hand and just be there for him all the while. "We work it out together, that's what being married is all about, you **don't** get to take decisions on your own. Come talk to me about everything! If you're afraid you want to leave, you tell me. If you don't feel like cooking or you want to make the best of dinners, you tell me. You want to have sex or you don't want to have sex, you tell me. You want to visit James and Lily, you tell me. Hell, you want to get a pet, you tell me!" She waited a couple of heartbeats to add, "All right?"

"All right," he assured her and she smiled, finally seeming somewhat free of her burden. "I never meant ―"

"Shhh!" Her hand found his lips and pressed them, quite hurting and forcefully, but not exactly uncomfortable to stop him from saying another word. "Dora says she knows and doesn't wanna hear it because you'll ruin it."

Remus closed his eyes fiercely, another tear following the path on his cheek. He nodded the instant before standing up, allowing both of them to feel each other completely. Her hands wrapped around his neck as his embraced her back, enjoying the blissful happiness of being in each other's arms once again. Slowly, she let go of him and her hands found his left one, pulling it to her grip. Dora took the ring in her hand and put his wedding band in his fourth finger. He intertwined their left hands, watching for a moment where their rings touch, the silence vow to stay forever together. Several minutes passed or could have very well been several days, it did not make any difference for they had surely lost track of time.

"There may be something else Dora wants, though." Her voice choking after the previous crying.

"Anything."

"Kiss her," she moved to look at him and found his eyes already waiting for hers, "like you haven't done in _ages_."

His gaze fell down to her lips, hands moving to cup both of her cheeks as he slowly bent down, four eyes closing with desire. Lips pressing against each other tenderly yet firmly until his parted and his tongue carefully caressed her lips. She allowed him access to her mouth, her hands going up his back and tangling in his hair. His right hand moved gently along her jaw line to cup the back of her neck as his tongue and lips slowly took in her universe, sparking off one delightful sensation after another. The feeling of being cupped into someone's hand and his tongue exploring her mouth after so long made her wish it to never stop; the world could come to an end that she would peacefully stay in his arms. His left hand lowered and found the spot where her shirt did not meet her jeans, leaving a tingling heat where their skin touched. Remus did not wish to push it any longer than she was willing to take, he would happily sleep on the couch for a month if she wished so. He broke apart, his lips pressing against hers one last time before he pulled himself out of her reach. Her lips however, did not seem able to keep away from him and began tracing a path on his neck; his stubble against her lips allowing her a cherished sensation she had missed so much. Tonks morphed herself to be a couple of inches taller than she was before, kissing him deeply again.

"Dora?" he called when they broke apart.

She took her time, going all the way down his throat before she replied.

"Yeah?"

"We don't have to ..."

"I know," she answered, simply. "I want to," her voice low with desire.

"Are you sure?" He looked to the ceiling, unsure if he did want to hear her answer; he was completely aware of his body having considerably more scars than the last time she saw him, in addition to bandages covering the newest ones and the loss of weight for not always making enough for a decent meal a day. However, he felt her hand pulling his chin down.

"Yes."

The amount of determination inside her now violet eyes make every doubt he had vanish and he could see how much she loved him, the way he was, not less, not more, just him. He bent down, but before their lips had the chance to touch, he went farther, catching her legs with his arms and lifting her up, bridal style.

"Then we're doing it properly."

Tonks smiled fondly at him. This was the man she loved, so respectful of her, wishing to make her happy, no matter what, even if the cost was his misery, which she had just reminded him, was not always the best thing, she would not be happy without him. She wrapped her arms around his neck, breathing in his wonderful male scent.

As they approached the end of the corridor, she pointed to an open door with a tilt of her head.

"That's my room."

Remus walked in and saw her messy bed; Tonks instantly waved her wand to light a single candle upon her bedside table. Oh, how much he loved her, every little thing she did had an effect upon him even if it had been unintentional. He smiled; no, you did not have to make your bed after you had only a few hours of sleep, especially if you have a horrible day ahead of you. Of course for her, beds were not to be made at all, but that was something else.

He laid her carefully and sat down to take off his shoes, the minute they were gone, before he could even move to get to his socks, she was on his lap, holding his face and kissing him so hungrily he had to put his hands behind himself on the mattress for support as she began to take off his robes and he shrugged them off to help her clumsy hands. After regaining his balance, he moved his hand to the buttons of her shirt; he would have happily taken his time to unbutton each one of them, but if there was one thing his Dora was not, was patient and she ripped the remaining ones apart. Remus grinned, which was surely the sexiest grin Tonks had ever seen and their lips met again. His hands moving up her back to unhook her bra, putting it aside with the rest of their clothes. Remus's lips left hers to trace her jaw line, his hands coming from her back to gently begin to caress her breasts ... So, so good. Were they really the same ones that had been nourishing her son earlier?

"Remus," breathed Dora.

He heard her. He surely had; however, he must have thought she had said his name as one says their lover's name during love-making, as a background music for he continued his ministrations as though nothing had happened.

"Remus?" she called again, just above a needy whisper, her hands moving to grip his cuffs ever so slightly and alert him to the fact that she needed his attention in a different way.

His lips left her skin, hands pausing where they were as he unhurriedly moved back to meet what he could see of her gaze in the dark room.

"Dora?"

"We shou ―" she started to pull his hands away and he let her, confusion crossing his features instantly. Hadn't she said she was sure about wanting it? "They belong to someone else now, mkay?" her voice had the pleading layer for him not to feel guilty about it, but it was inevitable for Remus.

How could he not think that she was a different woman now? That they had a little boy that needed those to survive? That her breasts were neither hers nor his anymore? What if things got too intense one day and he ended up hurting them? Teddy would be the one to lose in the end. How could he not think of him? His son, the one who was sleeping not far from where they were.

"Of course," he sounded more confident than he truly felt. Remus drew his wand from his pocket and flicked it to close the open door. "_Silencio!_" he grinned at her, as if trying to prove that he knew how to be a proper father.

However, she got his wand from his hand, fondly smiling at the object as though she did not have the courage to meet his eyes and hurt him more.

"A Silencing Charm, Remus," she waved his wand, undoing the spell he had just done, "blocks all sounds from leaving the room ― which is great!" she added quickly, wishing he would not be hurt by what she was about to say. "But it also blocks all sounds from coming in ... So we wouldn't be able to hear if something happened to him."

Tonks kissed his lips, trying to show him that he should not feel bad for it at all, but he could not, could he? Twice he had not thought about that boy and only of himself. By no means could he be called a parent. His eyes fall shut as she kissed down his neck and into the hollow at the base of his throat.

"I'm sorry," he remained utterly immobile.

"Don't be." He could feel her smile against his skin. "You'll just have to bite your tongue, mister." She pulled away to grin at him, her features showing that she did not blame him in the slightest for any of his deeds.

Remus had to swallow against the painful lump that rose up in his throat. Dora was giving herself to him, hiding not a single tad from him, displaying every single bit of the Dora-way to help him, ― sure with a grin and a joke, but he would take no different ― the one he had come to love so much, the one he had come to need so much, to the point he knew no more who he was without her. She was different now; yes, of course, how could she not be? But she loved him absolutely no less, she simply had different priorities and she would do whatever it took to guide him along the way she had walked on her own, along the way he had forced her to walk on her own, along the way of parenthood. Despite him hurting her and hiding from her ― his wife, the one he was supposed to keep no secrets from ― what he was feeling to the point they haunted him day and night and he had to leave her; even with it all she was giving herself unreservedly and wholly. Not afraid to love again whatsoever, she was teaching him how to love and there could be no love without trust and she trusted him, regardless of what he had done. She had trusted him with her heart, the same heart he had long lost count of how many times he had broken with the mere wish of never seeing it break. More importantly, she had trusted him with her son, _their_ son, the one who was so much more important to her than her own self. She was taking all his flaws and imperfections, all his blemish and errors, his curse and kindness; she was loving him entirely. And he knew then, at that precise moment, that he could never ― he would never ever hurt her again. He would give himself to her as freely as she was giving herself to him; trust her with every single minor insecurity and allow her to sever all his dams.

Remus laid her upon the mattress, the back of his fingers touching her cheek ever so slightly and her body automatically leant into his touch, his amber orbs holding an amount of love so immense that she felt surprisingly shy, even more ashamed due to how fast her flushed cheeks gave her away. Their lips touched once again and slowly her bashfulness was drawn away as she began to feel lightheaded with desire. How could either of them have lived so much time without such a passionate lover would forever be a mystery to them. Every minor touch would lead to a desperate need of more, every tease, every stroke, every friction, every kiss, every lick, every bite, every whispered name and every moan. Although both Remus and Dora had deified each other during all those months away, they were pleasantly surprised to find out that they met each and every single one of their expectations. How had he managed to become so caught up in his fears and be able to not run after her, especially when he knew how to find her and she did not, he would never know. But she wanted to be with him, in her eyes, he could see how there was absolutely nothing she would rather do than be in bed with him then.

He kissed her forehead tenderly as they lay in each other's arms in a blissful post-coital embrace. Breathing and heartbeats evening whilst feather like touches were upon their bodies. Not a word was said by any of them, looks had spoken far more efficiently during that night, not a word needed to be said by any of them.

A low beep called her attention and her gaze flew to the clock on her bedside table, which showed her to be midnight. She kissed one of the pink and sensitive new scars upon his chest before motioning to get up.

"Be back in a bit," she whispered, her hand lingering in his until she forced herself to take the step back that would take her out of his reach. She searched for her knickers, lost somewhere in the floor before getting her nightgown and walking through the door.

Tonks entered Teddy's bedroom to see him already somewhat awake in his cot.

"Wotcher," she murmured, caressing his cheek and noticing how hot he was. "Hungry?" she asked already knowing the answer. She chose then to take off his pyjamas, letting him with just his nappy on.

Her glance fall upon the armchair she usually sat upon when she had to breastfeed him during the night, but it just did not seem right to her so she took him in her arms and went back to the master suite.

Remus smiled, sitting upright at once when he saw she had gone and fetched Teddy. Dora sat her son on the bed and the boy looked behind himself to see his father as she let her nightgown fall on the floor, together with many other garments.

"Hi," muttered Remus to the boy.

Dora lay on her side, bringing Teddy up so he could be fed by her. Hearing Remus sharp in a breath, she lifted up her eyes to meet his as he slowly lay back on the bed.

"What?" she questioned, curiously.

He meant to shake his head and to tell her it was nothing worthy of notice when he was quickly reminded by his subconscious he had promised himself to let her in and discover everything that was there to be discovered about him.

"You breastfeeding him is high likely to be the most beautiful thing I have ever seen," he admitted.

Her cheeks flushed in a split second, but she did not bother to cover. Instead, smiling fondly, she looked down to that boy and tried to organise his hair into some sort of pattern.

Remus knew he could make her blush even more by describing exactly what he was seeing, but he figured she had the general picture of what he was feeling and decided against it. Instead he passed his arm across the pillows and stroked the damp hair on her temples. Tonks let him for a while, but a minute later, she took his hand and placed it together with hers half-way to his pillow, intertwining their fingers. Seeing her baby begin to frown, she moved her free hand to massage his jaw and his brows relaxed. Her son ... who was the only reason they were so happily enjoying that moment.

"Guess we can't say that Teddy grabbing your leg was a coincidence, right?"

"No ..." he chuckled with her. "I guess not."

"So much for just a cuppa, huh?" she said and he chuckled again. There was never anything between them that did not mean anything.

Silence fell upon them, but unlikely the entire length of that day, it was not an uncomfortable one; they had had a previous experience that had proved how they were feeling. When Teddy let go off of her breast, he buried his face in her chest, nuzzling against his mother, listening to her heartbeat had always been his favourite place to sleep. She secured him with her and gazed at Remus as if letting him know that Teddy would sleep with them.

With a full stomach, Teddy was asleep the next instant and looking at her husband and back to her son, she felt utterly at peace in a long time. She collected the sheet that littered the floor and covered the two loves of her life, throwing it across the bed ... The whole bed, she gleefully realised, no longer felt too big for herself alone due to the simple fact she was not alone anymore, the double mattress was now the perfect size for their small family. All her lonely nights were past behind her, she would no longer feel so small when she lied upon the furniture, no longer hug her legs and wish morning would soon come to put an end to her suffering, to the suffocating feeling of being lonely. She had Remus now and together they would be able to raise wonderfully that baby boy between them. She needed nothing else.

Albeit he did not have the enchanting sensation of her body against his, how could he even have the audacity to ask for it when he had this outstanding painting before him? His wife and his son, in an embrace that was the sheer picture of love and he was a part of it, that scene would not exist without him. He was, not only in the boy, but also in the woman's smile as well as in her hair, which had become that marvellous cherry. With a short flick of his wand, he extinguished the candle, causing the only light to fill the room to be the pearl sheen of a waning moon, colouring his wife's sweaty body in pale and smoothing silver. Had he not been so tired due to the recent full moon and their previous love-making, Remus supposed he would not have been able to fall asleep afraid of rolling over and suffocating his son, but he knew Teddy was safe in his mother's embrace and he could not remember ever having a more peaceful sleep.

That was, until he woke up anguished later that night. Soon, he perceived that his anguish came from that small, tiny body against his, one that seemed to be more distressed than he was for Teddy was letting out clearly unhappy low moans, shaking his arms and legs. He looked down at the boy, wishing he knew what in Merlin's name he could need or want at that hour, wishing he could help him and for the first time be a half decent father for his son, but he had not a clue where to start, hence he touched her cheek, running his thumb gently yet firmly above her jaw.

"Dora," he called lowly and hoarsely.

She jolted awake, her eyes opening at once and not even registering the hand that was quickly being removed from her face. By the time she reached him, Teddy had already began to cry, she ran a hand upon his belly and another caressing his cheeks, searching for tears to wipe, but finding none.

"Shh," she calmed him. "Be right back, yeah?" She threw the sheet aside and was sliding her legs out of the bed when she felt a grip on her wrist, stopping her. Her gaze slowly followed the hand until her husband's face.

"What is it?" questioned Remus. "Tell me where it is and I'll fetch it for you."

Tonks was taken aback for a moment, by the moonlight, she was able to see written inside his eyes the strong will, how much of a great father he would be and she wondered how she was able to doubt his disposal of being the parent he had yet to be. Her heart skipped a bit and she smiled fondly at him, lying back in bed.

"I need to give him a formula now," her hand travel through his hair once, pushing some of them aside, but quickly took her hand off just to watch them falling back to where they previously were. "I have some bottles ready down in the kitchen."

Remus nodded once, the image of a few baby bottles coming to his mind as they cooked earlier that evening. He sat on the bed, getting his underwear from the floor as Dora put Teddy upright as if showing him that he would not need to wait for much longer. The moment her husband was up and walking towards the door, Teddy's head moved to his father and he began crawling to the end of the bed. Tonks quickly raised her leg to stop him. Her son looked from her and back to the sheet barrier before him, getting an amused smile from her.

"Remus!"

With two quick strides and wondering what possibly could have happened during the couple of seconds he was away for her to call him so loudly.

"Yes?" he asked leaning on the doorway.

"Someone wants to go with you," she let him know, lowering her leg and revealing a curious, blonde Teddy.

"Oh." He looked down at the boy. Did she really want him to take him? Could he be trusted with so much already? What if something went wrong? What if he dropped him? What if ― Teddy lifted his arms, obviously asking for his father to take him in his arms. _It's just a baby_, he reminded himself. As slowly as he could muster, without showing that he was postponing it as much as he could to give her a chance to back down if she wanted to, but unfortunately, ― or fortunately, as he would come to perceive later on ― she did not change her mind and Remus got his son.

Dora smiled at him and he felt somewhat more confident. She trusted him and honestly, how hard could it be to take a baby downstairs and back? He could be trusted with this.

"Don't give it to him down there," she informed him in a sleepy voice. "Wait 'til you're back 'ere."

"All right." He nodded putting a hand on Teddy's back to secure him in position.

Remus carefully walked his way to the kitchen, wishing he had not forgotten his wand back at the room, but with the moon this close to its full, it illuminated the house well enough for him to see where he could go without jeopardising his son. He reached the room and put Teddy down to the floor so he could look for the bottle; he stood up watching his father trying to remember where exactly he had seen the baby bottles. He crouched down, his gaze travelled across the collection of drawers and cabinets, but not recalling precisely where he had seen the bottles. He was about to start opening random ones when he was intrigued by the scene before him, Teddy had crouched just like he had, his little hands placed upon his knees just like his were the previous instant.

Tears came pouring instantly upon his eyes. Sure he had seen that boy as a perfect copy of his younger self before, but that was the result of an unconscious use of Metamorphmagus abilities. This ... This was a whole other thing, Teddy was looking at him seeking for guidance, his father was his inspiration and he trusted him to lead through the right path. Even though he deserved the worst parents' award, Teddy trusted him. Remus watched as the boy's eyes glanced at him as if asking what he was thinking and he placed his hands on the sides of his torso, lifting the toddler to his feet and he kissed him. Not because Dora was making him do it to teach him the parts of his body, not as a way to make his son laugh, but out of pure affection due to the simple fact that he wanted to because he loved that boy. Wait, _love_? Yes, love. That realisation both weighed upon his shoulders and brought an inexplicable fondness to his heart, as if everything made sense.

"I love you," he confessed lowly as if preventing anyone else in the room from listening despite them being alone and Teddy not even knowing the true meaning of those words and would not remember it the way Remus would. The words were hard to be said, but he managed to let them out clearly against the tightness in his throat. He brought him close, embracing him as tight as he could without hurting, therefore, not as pressed against him as he wanted to, but enough to show his feelings.

He let his son go, the boy's face now crossed with something that resembled annoyance for not having his food with him by now. So, he wiped his tears away and started to search for the white bottles, opening drawers and cabinets, but with no luck, cursing himself for not recalling where he had seen them whilst he cooked. Until he noticed Teddy standing by the last cabinet door and doubt crossing his features for not knowing what his father was doing. Remus walked over and opened said door, revealing what he had been seeking for all along. He grabbed one quickly and Teddy instantly raised his hands towards it.

"Da!" He opened and closed his fists.

"Sorry, Teddy." He got the boy in his arms and began his way back to the bedroom. "Mummy said to not give it for you here."

"Da." He repeated swirling his head left and right searching for the bottle that was behind his back.

"I said no, Teddy."

However, Teddy apparently had yet to learn the meaning of that negative word and re-started to moan fidgety for not having the bottle with him.

"Hey, hey, we're almost there," Remus consoled him, lengthening his stride.

Soon, they reached the bedroom and Remus was glad for Teddy not having started to cry along the way. Dora was already sitting and had her wand in hand. He placed the baby on the bed and she handed him her wand.

"Warm it a bit," she told him.

Concentrating to not let out a lot of power in the spell, Remus touched the bottle once.

"Lemme see." Tonks got the bottle from his hand as Ted crawled towards her after his food. She placed a bit upon her fist and tasted it. "Not enough," she said, motioning for him to give her wand back. She touched it once before tasting again. "There," she asked for his hand and tried to put a bit for him to try, but their son kept reaching for the bottle. "Teddy, wait," she commanded with a frown and the boy looked back at her with furrowed brows, eager to have his meal. She successfully managed to drop a bit of the white liquid on his fist and smiled at his hesitation of trying his son's food. "It's just my milk and a special formula, Remus," she grinned. "You're not gonna die."

However, knowing he was about to taste his wife's milk probably had absolutely no comfort for him, but he tasted it and nodded at her, making a mental note of the temperature of the liquid he had just drunk.

"Try the least power you can put in the spell and do it about three times. Should be about it," she instructed him, lying Teddy down and finally handing him the bottle before lying on her back.

Remus nodded, moving to lie too and noticing Teddy had lied so close to his side that he had to press his chest against his son's arm. He noticed his son's frown and smiled apologetically, but that was really the best he could do without moving the boy.

"Give me your hand," asked Dora, opening her own for him to put his upon.

With confused features he did as she asked and she guided his thumb to the end of Teddy's jaw.

"He's teething, you see," she began drawing small and really light circular movements with his thumb. "Molars, not pleasant." She shook her head with a grin and the boy's frown fade away. "See? This helps a bit and ice skips. Specially sucking, not a problem with chewing, but yeah, sucking sucks."

Remus chuckled along with her as she lied back once again; under her watch, he continued with the movement for a while, until she changed to lie on her stomach.

"Help him hold it towards the end," she alerted him, her voice sleepy and childish like he knew she disliked so much, but apparently, she could not bring herself to care about it now for she used said tone once more. "He likes to sleep before he's done and the bottle might hurt him."

"All right." He nodded. She was teaching him every little thing about his son, he would be the father Teddy needed, this would be his life from now on, this would be what every single one of his days would consist of, tomorrow would be all the same, unless ... "Is there match tomorrow?"

"No matches on Mondays," she informed him with a wide smile. "But I'll have to go to the Ministry; resign and then talk to Robards." She looked at him, hoping he would adore her proposal of getting her dream job back and letting him take care of his son during the day.

"I'll go with you ... and I could take him." How could he oppose himself to her dream? Making her happy was basically his job as a husband now. He watched pleased as she closed her eyes, the wide smile still on her lips.

"Or maybe," she re-started, "I should just resign and wait a week to go to the office. 'Cause you really suck at parenting," laughed Dora and Remus could not help but to laugh with her.

He saw the boy curiously watching him and nuzzling towards his chest; that little boy really trusted him already, he trusted him with his life. He may be the worst father in the world, but for Teddy he would learn to be the best he could be for he was Remus Lupin, the werewolf who turned Nymphadora Tonks's life upside down and made her the happiest woman on Earth.

* * *

**A/N:** So yeah, that's it. I never meant for them to be apart, but you guys begging for them to end up together left me wanting to write something else, so I did, a one-shot called Not a Tonks, Not Anymore. I don't have much to say about it other than I thought I was mean before and Idk, man, my shipper heart has weird requests.

Thank you very much for all your reviews, you guys are amazing, honestly. I certainly wouldn't have written this much if it weren't for you, so I thank you for accompany this story and please, be a dear and leave your thoughts of the end down here, would you?

Júlia, que lindo! Obrigada, mesmo! É certamente uma honra! E não, não sabia que você fazia Letras, qual delas você faz? ^^


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